Should I book for fall?

[upbeatred]

We have extra DVC points and I was thinking about a fall Aulani vacation for my family with adult children. We have been to Hawaii many times and usually stay on Maui at the Fairmont, so we have pretty high standards. All the reviews on trip advisors as of late have been terrible. People are complaining about trash in lazy river, outdated rooms, and poor service. I have always wanted to try Aulani because we are a big Disney family, but I don't want to blow a ton of points and be disappointed. Who has been recently? Has anyone read the reviews on trip advisors? I usually weed out a couple of bad reviews but there are lots of bad reviews from recent trips not just one or two.

 

[tankin]

We were there at Christmas 2019 so 14 months ... I would say that resort needs a refresh but I wouldn't put it in the "outdated" category. I would put it an equal to some of the Fairmont places that I've stayed in especially in the year prior to a soft refurb. We never experienced service issues. I would say the service is higher than what we experienced at WDW (GF etc). While I've seen trash in the pools, its never there very long and its consistent with what I've experienced at other resorts (including 5 star ones)

I do have a couple of friends who live on Oahu. They seem to suggest that all the reviews are down for everyone on the island. With all the headaches of the last year and the hoops to jump through, there seems to be this impossible standard that people want their first vacation back to meet.

 

[upbeatred]

We were there at Christmas 2019 so 14 months ... I would say that resort needs a refresh but I wouldn't put it in the "outdated" category. I would put it an equal to some of the Fairmont places that I've stayed in especially in the year prior to a soft refurb. We never experienced service issues. I would say the service is higher than what we experienced at WDW (GF etc). While I've seen trash in the pools, its never there very long and its consistent with what I've experienced at other resorts (including 5 star ones)

I do have a couple of friends who live on Oahu. They seem to suggest that all the reviews are down for everyone on the island. With all the headaches of the last year and the hoops to jump through, there seems to be this impossible standard that people want their first vacation back to meet.

Thanks for the reply! Good to know.

 

[Lilsia]

I frequent and Aulani FB group and no one has said anything about trash around the resort. Some complain about cast members reminding them about masks, but almost all reviews have been positive.

 

[abdgeek]

We have extra DVC points and I was thinking about a fall Aulani vacation for my family with adult children. We have been to Hawaii many times and usually stay on Maui at the Fairmont, so we have pretty high standards. All the reviews on trip advisors as of late have been terrible. People are complaining about trash in lazy river, outdated rooms, and poor service. I have always wanted to try Aulani because we are a big Disney family, but I don't want to blow a ton of points and be disappointed. Who has been recently? Has anyone read the reviews on trip advisors? I usually weed out a couple of bad reviews but there are lots of bad reviews from recent trips not just one or two.

I’m a DVC member and Aulani is one of my home resorts. I stay there every 2-3 years. The last time I was there was Christmas/New Year’s 2019 and I’m going again later this year. Aulani is on par with the other DVC WDW resorts, it’s just in Hawaii. I have never had any concerns about the cleanliness of the resort and it is refurbished on a regular schedule. It appears that most of the recent reviews on TripAdvisor are really about the frustration of traveling during COVID and not having access to all the amenities. Unfortunately, anyone traveling during COVID needs to do their research to ensure that the amenities they want are still being offered.

If you’re used to staying at Fairmonts, Aulani is not that! In my travels in the US and abroad, I have stayed at Fairmont, St. Regis, Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, Peninsula, etc. hotels. Aulani is not that type of luxury. As long as you think of it as a deluxe resort in Hawaii, you will be fine.